On Friday March 13, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place,
Dr. Christy Tremonti,
assistant professor of astronomy at the UW Madison, will present
Galaxies in 3D:
new insights into galaxy feeding and feedback from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV.

Modern theoretical models of galaxy evolution suggest that galaxies exist
in a slowly evolving equilibrium where gas accretion is balanced by star
formation and supernova-driven outflows. Gas flows are very difficult
to measure directly, but they can be traced indirectly by studying the
distribution of chemical elements in galaxies.
Chemical abundance maps have historically been time consuming to obtain
because spectra are needed of multiple positions in a galaxy.
Fortunately, the MaNGA survey, which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey 4,
is obtaining spatially resolved spectra of 10,000 nearby galaxies.
I will discuss the survey's progress and some new insights we are gaining
into gas flows and the chemical evolution of galaxies.

Space Place
is located in the basement of the
Villager Mall in Madison,
at 2300 South Park Street, on the west side of the street,
between Hughes Place and Ridgewood Way,
about three blocks north of the Beltline (Google Map).

Park in front near the center of the Mall,
and enter at the Atrium Entrance.
Once inside, walk down the hallway to the stairs and go downstairs.
Space Place occupies the left-hand part of the basement just beyond the
doors at the bottom of the stairs. There is also an elevator available.

After dinner, a talk by
Amy Lowitz on
Detecting the Cosmic Microwave Background
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the oldest part of the observable Universe.
Formed when the Universe was about 300,000 years old,
it is a kind of "heat echo" from the Big Bang.
Studying the CMB not only shows how tiny fluctuations in the early
Universe gave rise to the largest structures we observe today,
but also provides clues about what happened in the Universe's earliest moments.
Amy will give an overview of CMB science (what is the CMB and why is it scientifically interesting),
and follow with a discussion of how we measure the CMB, with a focus on the
two predominant detector types for CMB work.

Amy Lowitz is a Ph.D. student in the physics department at the
University of Wisconsin - Madison, where she is working with Professor Peter Timbie
on development of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) for use in
telescopes designed to search for inflation signatures in the cosmic microwave background.
Amy received her Bachelor of Science degree from Brown University in 2009
with an undergraduate thesis on photometric redshifts for galaxies in lensing surveys,
and held an appointment as a radar engineer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in 2009-2010.
She is currently a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow.

Note that the banquet replaces the February monthly meeting.
There will be no meeting at Space Place on Friday, February 13.

November 11, 2014

January at Space Place

The January 9, 2015 meeting will be a regular meeting
at Space Place.

Martin Mika
will be giving a talk entitled
Observing the Messier Objects.

Our plans to hold our January meeting at the MMSD planetarium
were sidetracked due to the installation of new seats in the planetarium (!!).
We'll reschedule a meeting there again in the near future.

November 11, 2014

Winter Solstice Party

The December 12 meeting will be our annual
Winter Solstice Party.
The Solstice Party replaces the regular monthly meeting for December.

The party will be held at the airplane hangar of member
Ray Fey at Morey Field in Middleton, 8300 Airport Road.

Ray's hangar has plenty of space for our full group to gather in comfort.
His walls are filled with years of photos and memorabilia from the
aviation and space industries, and should provide plenty of interest
and stimulation for the evening's conversation.

The party will begin at 7:00 pm. Members and guests are welcome
and all are invited to bring a snack dish to pass. Both food and beverages are welcome.

Morey Field is a gated facility, but we will ensure that the gate
(see photos)
is open between 6:50 and 7:30 pm so you can get in.
Once inside the grounds, look for the white Christmas tree in front of the hangar entrance.
Parking is available in front of Ray's hangar and adjacent hangars.

If you have any problems locating the hangar, please contact
Ray (608-215-8670) or John (608-698-5977).

October 28, 2014

Astrophotography Techniques

The November 14th MAS Meeting at Space Place will present an
Astrophotography Workshop, including:

DSLR wide field - just a camera and a tripod (John Rummel)

DSLR prime focus - putting the camera at the business end of a telescope (Jeff Shokler)

The Nov 14 meeting will be preceded by a
meeting of the board at 6:30 pm.
If you want to observe the inner workings of the club,
join us at the board meeting in the main meeting room at Space Place.

September 9, 2014

Mars Rover

At the October 10th MAS Meeting at Space Place,
Dr. Rebecca Williams
will give a talk entitled
"Roving the Red Planet: A Field Geologist Explores Gale Crater."

In this presentation, Williams will share her experience as a member of the science team.
She will discuss why Gale Crater was selected as the landing site,
how the rover landed using the ingenious ‘sky-crane’ system
developed for this mission, how the science team participates
in daily operations from their home institutions, and the latest
insights from observations along Curiosity’s journey
after a full martian year (2 Earth years) on Mars.

Dr. Williams is currently a Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute.
She is the lead author on the first surface mission results from the
Curiosity rover, “Martian Fluvial Conglomerates at Gale Crater” published in Science last year.
She lives in Waunakee, WI, with her husband Scott and their two daughters.

October 3, 2014

Moon Over Monona Clouded Out

NO-GO. Moon Over Monona is
canceled tonight (Friday, October 3rd) because of clouds and wind.

September 8, 2014

Large Star Parties

The Friday, September 12th MAS general meeting at Space Place
will be a workshop entitled
"How to host a HUGE public outreach event for astronomy."

Every year for the past 15 years, MAS has worked with the
Monona Terrace Convention Center to host a Ginormous public event.
Some of these star parties have drawn more than 2,000 members of the public.
Hosting a public event on this scale is not your typical public outreach.
Come hear this discussion of what we've learned and mistakes we've made.

The
Devils Lake Star Party tonight
(Saturday, August 23) is
called off because of clouds.

August 17, 2014

Pine Bluff

UW Space Place and UW Communications will offer an
open house,
including telescopes (36 and 16-inch reflectors), at
UW's Pine Bluff Observatory
for the evening of
Sunday 17 August, 6:30pm until 10pm.
We would like to invite MAS members to join us.
(Sad to say, neither telescope is currently functional.)
Picnics (sorry but we have no tables) are welcome and there
will be star gazing after dark. You are also welcome to bring
out a telescope for the star party.

To reach PBO, go west on Mineral Point Rd. to Pine Bluff.
Turn right (north) onto Hwy P, then turn left after approx. 1/4 mile onto Observatory Rd.
Follow Observatory Rd. less than 2 miles to the top of the ridge
and watch for the observatory driveway on the left. Park where directed.

July 24, 2014

Space Shuttles

At the Friday, August 8th MAS general meeting,
our own
Jeff Shokler
will give a talk on his recent treks to see the retired Space Shuttles.

His talk will be titled
"271,104,826 Miles Traveled: Space Shuttles Endeavour and Discovery in LA and DC."

Join us at Space Place, 2300 S. Park St in Madison.
Meeting begins with informal social and announcement time at 7:00
with the presentation starting at 7:30.

May 3, 2013

Donald Park Canceled

Clouds - the Donald Park Star party has been canceled.

The event has been clouded out twice, on Friday, July 25th, and on Saturday, July 26th.

We'll be looking to reschedule with them for a September event.

June 20, 2014

July Meeting

On Friday, June 11th, 7:00 pm. at Space Place, the MAS general meeting
will feature
Rick Kohrs
of the Space Science and Engineering Center at UW Madison.
Rick will give a talk about his work
creating global satellite composites.
by combining geostationary and polar orbiting data.
These composites have proven useful in research, operational forecasting,
aviation, and educational outreach.

The presentation will describe the
process used to create these composites and how they can be combined with
other observational data to discriminate between cloudy and cloud free pixels.
A three dimensional spherical display system will be used to show these composites
and other datasets describing weather satellite orbit and scanning techniques

April 7, 2014

Open House and Picnic at YRS

Since it was rained out on June 21st,
the picnic has been
rescheduled for Saturday, June 28th.

Come out to see the
DGRO roll-off-roof building.
Members and guests alike are invited to join us at our observatory/dark sky site.
If you've never visited, this is a great chance to see YRS in the daytime.

At 4 we'll gather for socializing.
At 5 we'll light the grills and eat.
Brats, burgers, and buns will be provided. Bring a pot-luck dish to pass.

Observing will follow the picnic, if skies are clear. (Last quarter Moon is the 19th.)

This day is a good time to get your
site orientation and learn how to use some of the equipment.
Observing members have full access to all the facilities of YRS
once they have received their site orientation.

Come out and enjoy a great facility, a nice day, good food, and good company.

April 7, 2014

June Meeting

At the MAS general meeting on Friday, June 13th, 7:00 pm. at Space Place,
our own
Martin Mika
will present a talk on
Spectroscopy: Analyzing the Chemistry of the Stars.

Topics will include:
the basic principles of spectroscopy;
the physical processes responsible for spectral features;
stellar classification and evolution;
spectra of the brightest stars in the sky;
how to classify stars based on their spectra;
spectroscopy of planets and deep sky objects;
equipment, techniques, and software; and
projects accessible to the amateur astronomer.

May 2, 2014

Devils Lake

On Friday, June 6, MAS will hold a
Devils Lake Star Party.

The moon will be at 1st quarter with Mars very close by.
Saturn and Jupiter will also be visible, but Jupiter will set early.
Sunset is at 8:34 PM. Plan now to save that date and join us for public outreach at Devils Lake.

We could use at least 6 to 8 instruments (scopes and binoculars) for this event.
If you want to help, please RSVP to
Laurence Mohr soon.

April 7, 2014

May Meeting

The Friday, May 9th, MAS general meeting, 7:00 pm. at Space Place,
will include our
annual business meeting and
officer elections.

The meeting will feature a presentation by
Larry Sromovsky,
senior scientist at the UW Space Science and Engineering Center.

His talk is entitled
"Saturn's Superstorm and Methane on Uranus:
two applications of hyper spectral imaging".

And
Saturday, May 10, 2014, is this year's first
work day at YRS.
Come out and help get our dark-sky site in fine shape.
Bring work gloves, brush cutting tools, your own water and food, and your enthusiasm.

The Friday, March 14th, MAS general meeting, 7:00 pm. at Space Place,
will feature a talk by
Dr. Andrew Schectman-Rook (UW Madison)
about his research into
The Vertical Distribution of Starlight in Spiral Galaxies.

We know much about the distribution of stars in the Milky Way,
but due to the effects of dust the detailed structure of other spiral galaxies is unclear.
I have developed a novel approach to remove dust attenuation and reveal the
intrinsic surface brightness profiles of nearby edge-on spiral galaxies.
I will discuss this method as well as its application to a small sample of
galaxies using near-infrared data from the WIYN 3.5m Telescope.

December 29, 2013

Devil's Lake Star Party

There is a winter observing event planned for
Devils Lake State Park
on Saturday March 8th.

December 19, 2013

MAS Annual Banquet

The MAS Spring Banquet will take place on
Saturday, February 15, 2014 at Sofra Bistro in Middleton.

Note that the banquet replaces the February monthly meeting.
There will be no meeting at Space Place on Friday, February 14.

Our own
Jim Lattis
will present
Honey, I Shrunk the Galaxy! or How Wisconsin Astronomers Located the Sun among the Stars.

In the early 1930s, the size of the Milky Way galaxy,
or even whether it was a galaxy, remained a puzzle.
Washburn Observatory's astronomers showed the way to the modern
solution and arrived at the accepted size of our galaxy.
My talk will explain the problem and its resolution in the 1930s.

December 10, 2013

CMB

The MAS meeting on Friday January 10th will be held at the
MMSD Planetarium at Madison Memorial High School,
201 S Gammon Road.

The evening starts at 7:00 PM with a short informal
gathering, followed by a presentation.

Amy Lowitz (UW Madison)
will be our guest speaker on the topic:
The Cosmic Microwave Background.

The
cosmic microwave background (CMB)
is the oldest part of the observable Universe.
Formed when the Universe was about 300,000 years old, it is a kind of "heat echo" from the Big Bang.
Studying the CMB not only shows us how tiny fluctuations in the early Universe
gave rise to the largest structures we observe today, but also provides clues about
what happened in the Universe's earliest moments.
I will outline the history of the field, give an overview of CMB science
(how it formed, what is observable today, and why), and conclude with
a discussion of current efforts in the field, particularly in the area
of CMB polarization measurements as they relate to the search for inflation.

Amy Lowitz is a graduate student in the physics department at the University of Wisconsin - Madison,
where she is working with Professor Peter Timbie on development of
microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) for use in telescopes
designed to search for inflation signatures in the cosmic microwave background.
Amy received her Bachelor of Science degree from Brown University in 2009
with an undergraduate thesis on photometric redshifts for galaxies in lensing surveys,
and held an appointment as a radar engineer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in 2009-2010.
She is currently a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow.

At the Friday, December 13th, MAS general meeting, 7:00 pm. at Space Place,
Fred Mrozek
will discuss
Super-Computer Modeling of Large Impact Events on Earth.

Super-computer modeling by Drs. Dan Durda and Dave Kring of ejecta trajectories resulting from the
K/T impact event
reveal unexpected atmospheric effects lasting for days after the impact.
These modeling results are compared to
a selection of mythologies collectively suggestive that men experienced
and preserved in their legends memories of at least one extremely energetic impact event.

The broader context of the impact hazard will be explained
in the light of what we now know about the recent origin of the zodiacal dust cloud,
stochastic modeling of the solar system's
Centaur object population,
the instability of Centaur object orbits, their prodigious size/mass range,
and the power of
mean-motion-resonances
with Jupiter to focus debris from the break-up of comets
into concentrated streams penetrating the inner solar system.

Fred Mrozek is a life-long amateur astronomer.
Partner in lens-making start-up at Astro-Physics between 1981 and 1988.
Seven years at the University of Chicago/Yerkes Observatory designing
astronomical research instrumentation.
Eleven years at Recon/Optical Inc. in Barrington, Illinois.
I make custom optics in my shop in German Valley, Illinois, where I have
recently finished a new, large polishing machine and a point-diffraction interferometer.
I am presently doing contract work for a local machine-tool builder and
contemplating construction of some medium and large aperture
Houghton-type
Newtonians or Cassegrains.

RASC Observers Handbooks
have arrived. Jurgen will have them available at the December meeting.
If you ordered one and are not able to make it to the meeting,
please contact Jurgen and make alternative arrangements.

This meeting will be our annual
Solstice/holiday party.
Members are invited to bring an appropriate snack to share:
finger foods like cookies, cakes, cheese and crackers, non-alcoholic beverages, etc.
Join us at 7:00 pm at Space Place for mingling and snacking.

September 17, 2013

Video Astronomy

The Friday, November 8th, MAS general meeting, 7:00 pm. at Space Place,
will feature a talk by
Les Phelps on
video astronomy.

"I'm going to present an overview of the equipment I am familiar with,
followed by images that Laurence Mohr and I have captured
using Mallincam Extreme video cameras and my security camera
using a variety of telescopes under a variety of conditions."

There will be a
board meeting
at 6:00 pm, before the general meeting.
Members are welcome to attend.

September 17, 2013

Wide Field Astrophotography

At the Friday, October 11th, MAS general meeting, 7:00 pm. at Space Place,
John Rummel
will present
Wide Field Astrophotography with DSLR cameras,
with techniques for both medium and long exposure shots.

Methods will be shown for image acquisition and post-processing
to create finished shots of high quality and interest.

September 14, 2013

Moon Over Monona Terrace

NO-GO. Moon Over Monona is
canceled tonight because of clouds.

Note that there is
no rain/cloud date this year.

August 11, 2013

Antique Telescopes

On Friday, September 13th, the MAS general meeting will be a joint meeting with Space Place at 7:00 pm.

And the next day, Saturday, September 14th, will be our annual
Moon Over Monona public star party.

May 3, 2013

Eyepiece Outreach

The following events are great chances to do fun outreach
and show people a wonderful time at the telescope.

Saturday, September 14 at Monona Terrace:
Moon Over Monona public star party.
Note that there is
no rain/cloud date this year.

MAS members, please consider attending one or more of these events with your telescope,
or even without a telescope just to help out, show constellations,
talk to the public about astronomy. The more the merrier!

Past Events:

Saturday, May 4 at the MMSD School Forest in Verona:
Jeff Shokler (jshokler@provost.wisc.edu) is organizing this one for a large group of girl scouts.
Please contact him if you are able to help out and need more info on the whens and wheres.

Thursday, May 16 at Jefferson Middle School in west Madison:
This is for Jefferson Middle School 8th grade science students.
This event has been going on for several years now and is usually
very well attended by enthusiastic 14 year olds and their families.
Contact John Rummel (darksky2500@gmail.com) if you can help.
There is a rain date for this event (Monday, May 20th).

Saturday, May 18 at the MMSD School Forest in Verona:
This event is being organized by local scout master Chris Ashley (clashley@wisc.edu)
who is looking for some telescope experience for his boys.
There has been one positive response so far, we could use two or three more.

Saturday, June 15 at Devil's Lake State Park:
We need at least 3 to 5 scopes for this cooperative event with the Devils Lake park rangers.
Observing will be at dusk at the north shore picnic area,
meeting place will be by the Rock Elm shelter, found easily on
this map.
Contact
John Rummel (darksky2500@gmail.com) if you can help.

Friday, June 21:
Terri Felton will be offering camps for Native American students throughout the summer.
They will have an overnight at a Dane County park (TBD) for ~10 middle schoolers
plus about 5 high schoolers and would like someone to bring our telescopes for star gazing.
If anyone can help, please contact Terri directly at
felton.terri@countyofdane.com.

Saturday, June 22 Friends of Starkweather Creek
hold a summer solstice celebration and bonfire at Olbrich Park
(on Lake Monona just across the street from Olbrich Gardens)
and would like to include star gazing following the bonfire.
Anyone interested in bringing out a telescope can contact
Kay Kriewald (kay@astro.wisc.edu).

Saturday, August 10 (cloud date Sunday, August 11) at Donald ParkSaturday, August 10 (cloud date Sunday, August 11) at Donald Park, about 17 miles from Madison:
Beginning at 8:00 pm at Donald Park (between Verona and Mt. Horeb),
the Friends of Donald Park have again invited us to join them for a star party.
We invite members to bring their telescopes or other observing equipment
to this excellent location to observe the crescent moon, Saturn, and later, the Perseid meteors.

The park entrance
is on the south side of Hwy 92,
southeast of Mt. Horeb or northwest of County G.
Google Map (zoom in for more detail).

In the past, this event has been very well attended
(well over 100 members of the public, including lots of families with children),
so we encourage any and all interested members to join us to help.
This has become one of MAS's premier public events. Please help us make it a good one!

Friday, August 16 (cloud date Saturday, August 17) at Devil's Lake State Park:
a cooperative event with the Devils Lake park rangers.
Observing will be at dusk at the north shore picnic area,
meeting place will be by the Rock Elm shelter, found easily on
this map.
Contact
John Rummel (darksky2500@gmail.com) if you can help.

Note that the general meeting on Friday, July 12th, originally scheduled
for UW Space Place, has been
moved to Dodgeville
with the
Iowa County Astronomers.
The topic will be the Moon,
and they will be showing some
moon rocks and meteorites.

We'll be driving down to Dodgeville to join them.
It's a bit of a commute, but we think it will be worth it.
The ICA group has some
Apollo lunar samples on loan from NASA.
Have you ever handled an actual moon rock? Here's your chance.

The meeting is at
7:30 at Quality Liquid Feeds
just north of Dodgeville.

There will be stargazing with the 17" Dob at Bethel Horizons
(map and directions also at
icastro.org)
after the meeting.

To arrange car-pooling (from Space Place or other agreed-upon location),
contact
Les Phelps at (608) 770-5189 or
Tom Ferch (email tferch@chorus.net).
We should leave Space Place or other starting point about 6:00 to arrive at the meeting on time.

The video astronomy presentation will take place at a future meeting.

May 12, 2013

Open House and Picnic at YRS

Saturday, June 22th,
from 1:00 to 4:00 pm, will be our open house at YRS.

March 17, 2013

Our Magnetic Sun

The general meeting on Friday, May 10th, 7:00 pm, will be our
annual business meeting and election of officers.

Our Sun is a magnetic star, whose 11-year cycles of magnetic activity
profoundly affect life here on Earth.
As we look to other stars, we find that magnetism is very common on stars like the Sun.
We see signatures of dark spots, like sunspots, on the surfaces of other stars
and occasionally see large stellar flares, like the flares on our Sun.
Stellar magnetism is generated by large-scale plasma motions beneath the
stellar photosphere (the "surface" of the star) by dynamo processes.
In solar and stellar convection zones, convection and rotation couple to
build organized magnetic fields and drive cycles of magnetic activity.

Tonight, we'll explore the signatures of magnetism in our Sun and other sun-like stars,
we'll see how large computer simulations are helping us understand how convective dynamos operate,
and we'll learn how new plasma experiments at UW Madison will be used to study the solar dynamo.

March 17, 2013

Solar Eclipse of 1869

At the general meeting on Friday, April 12th, 7:00 pm, MAS president
John Rummel will share an interesting story on
the total solar eclipse of August 7, 1869,
based in part on a diary by a resident in rural SE Wisconsin.

Why this eclipse? What's special about this date?
"While researching eclipses of the 19th century for another purpose,
I stumbled upon a great story and a bit of a mystery with some interesting
local connections."
John will spin the story and give those in attendance
a chance to weigh in on the elements of the mystery.

February 1, 2013

Image Creation

At the general meeting on Friday, March 8th, 7:00 pm, MAS member
Martin Mika will talk about
Deep Sky Image Creation and Processing with Adobe Photoshop.

The presentation will cover the fundamentals of creating a deep sky image
using stacking and processing techniques available to users of Adobe Photoshop CS.
Creating an image from multiple raw frames
will be demonstrated from start to finish,
as well as basic tricks for enhancing and beautifying images of star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae.
Time permitting, more advanced techniques of exposure enhancement, noise reduction,
and false color imaging will be demonstrated.

The MAS meeting on Friday January 11th at the
MMSD Planetarium at Madison Memorial High School,
201 S Gammon Road will feature
Dr. Sui Ann Mao,
who will discuss her research using observations in the radio wavelengths to probe
the origin of magnetic fields in the universe.

Dr. Mao is currently an NRAO
Jansky
postdoctoral fellow at University of Wisconsin Madison.
She moved to the US from her native Hong Kong for college to pursue her dream of becoming an astronomer.
She did her undergraduate work at the University of Arizona in Tucson
and her PhD dissertation at Harvard University.

On Friday, December 14th, 7:00 pm,
the general meeting will include a
Telescope Purchasing Presentation.

October 21, 2012

Ice Cube

Antarctica returns to the MAS general meeting on Friday, November 9th, 7:00 pm. at Space Place
when UW physicist Francis Halzen
of the
Ice Cube Project
presents
Ice fishing for neutrinos: an update:

"We have melted eighty-seven holes over 1.5 miles deep in the
Antarctic icecap to be used as astronomical observatories.
Into each hole is lowered a string knotted with basketball-sized light detectors,
which are sensitive to the shimmering blue light emitted in the surrounding
clear ice when ghostly particles called neutrinos pass through the Earth."

"We have already collected more than 300,000 neutrinos at this point and, as you probably know,
neutrinos are never boring.
I will discuss the first results from the recently completed instrument."

Come to the MAS general meeting on Friday, October 12th, 7:00 pm. at Space Place,
and see the
Restoration of the Alvin Clark 15.6-inch Objective Lens
at
Washburn Observatory.

From May 7-10, 2012, the objective lens of the Washburn
equatorial refractor was removed, cleaned, reassembled
and collimated for the first time in 132 years.
MAS members Jim Lattis and Tom Ferch
will present a slide show documenting this detailed process.

And don't forget that the following Friday, October 19th, is our annual
Moon Over Monona public star party.

September 2, 2012

Extreme Objects

At the MAS general meeting on Friday, September 14th, 7:00 pm. at Space Place,
UW Astronomy Ph.D. student
Paul Sell will give a presentation entitled:
Extreme Objects Make a Dent in the Interstellar Medium.

Through Chandra X-ray imaging observations, Hubble Space Telescope imaging,
and optical spectroscopy with the WIYN Hydra multi-object spectrograph,
we have observed jets and outflows from extreme objects:
black holes, neutron stars, and post-starburst galaxies.
Each system that we have observed fills in one more puzzle piece of a picture
as to how powerful forces at work in space can shape the cosmic structures that we observe.

Paul Sell is a senior Astronomy graduate student at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) planning to finish his Ph.D.
thesis within the next year under the guidance of his advisors,
Professors Sebastian Heinz (thesis advisor) and friend of MAS Christy Tremonti.

July 25, 2012

DGRO Dedication and Open House at YRS

August MAS meeting. There will NOT be a regular Friday meeting in August.

Instead, on Saturday, August 11 we will hold an open house at
our Yanna Research Station observatory to honor
Doc Greiner and Matt Mills
for their donation of the DGRO observatory last year.
The details are as follows:

6:00 pm Dedication of the DGRO

Picnic supper to follow immediately (MAS will provide chicken filets
and buns for the grill). Please bring a dish to pass and BYO beverages.

Also, Jim Lattis at Space Place is planning to hold an open house/star party out at Pine Bluff
Observatory on the evening of Sunday 12 Aug, 7-10pm (and catching some
Perseids along the way). They'll offer a Perseidless rain date on the 19th.

Please plan to support Jim and Space Place and bring your telescope to
share with the public. This is also a great chance to see the UW
Astronomy department's Pine Bluff facility.
Jim can be contacted at
lattis@astro.wisc.edu.

July 10, 2012

Image Stacking

At the Friday, July 13th, MAS general meeting, 7:00 pm. at Space Place,
we will discuss
Astrophotography Techniques: Photo stacking in Photoshop.

Most astroimagers make use of stacking techniques,
where multiple images are "stacked" to improve resolution, detail and dynamic range.
This technique will be illustrated with Photoshop
and some discussion will also be given to dedicated software packages that automate the stacking of images.

Transits of Venus
occur at intervals of 8, 121.5, 8 and 105.5 years, repeating every 243 years.
Transits of 1631 and 1639, 1761 and 1769, 1874 and 1882, and
2004 and 2012
will be followed in 2117 and 2125. Don't miss the
2012 transit.

The Friday, May 11th, MAS general meeting, 7:00 pm. at Space Place,
will include our
annual business meeting and
officer elections
and planning for the May 20th
partial eclipse
and the June 5th
transit of Venus

March 31, 2012

Star Parties

On Friday, April 13th, 7:00 pm., the MAS general meeting
will feature presentations on visits to recent
national or regional star parties.

The general meeting is back at Space Place on Friday, March 9th, 7:00 pm.

MAS member Nathan Murphy
will present a clinic on
telescope collimation.

He will demonstrate his collimation method, and he
encourages members to
bring their scopes for diagnosis and collimation.
It works best for newtonians but is also applicable for
SCTs and other types of catadioptrics, and even for refractor diagonals.

October 28, 2011

Winter Observing

On Friday, November 11th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place,
the general meeting will include a discussion of
observing planning for the winter months,
with an eye toward the upcoming special events:
Jupiter up all winter,
Mars opposition as spring approaches,
and Venus transit in June.

The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

September 22, 2011

The KMO and the DGRO

The general meeting on Friday, October 14th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place,
will feature a slide show on moving the KMO and the DGRO
and maybe a discussion on the future of observing in the new building.

We will also review the very successful Moon Over Monona star party.

The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

August 13, 2011

Editing the Milky Way

At the general meeting on Friday, September 9th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place,
MAS members John Rummel, Mark Weller, and Andrea Rummel
will present the results of a multi-year Milky Way imaging project
and focus on how to edit these shots in Photoshop to bring out
the most realistic detail for a deeply satisfying final product.

August 11, 2011

Summer Activities

The general meeting on Friday, August 12th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place,
will include an update by MAS members Chris Zeltner and Les Phelps
on the relocation of the newly donated observatory building, the DGRO.

The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentations will begin shortly thereafter.

Jeff Shokler
will do a brief presentation on his recent visit to
Florida in an attempt to witness a shuttle launch. Members may wish to
discuss the temporary end of the US manned space program and
directions for the future.

June 20, 2011

Next Star Party at Donald Park

The July general meeting of the Madison Astronomical Society will be a shared observing event with
the Friends of Donald Park, at Donald Park. Meet at this new Dane County park on Friday July 8th.

In the event of clouds or rain, a go/no-go message will be
posted on the Friends of Donald Park website by 4:00 pm on the 8th.

Donald Park is about 17 miles from Madison.
The park entrance is on the south side of Highway 92,
southeast of Mt. Horeb or northwest of County G.
Google Map (zoom in for more detail).

We hope to see a lot of MAS folks there.

Those with telescopes can begin arriving about 7:30.
Members may drive their cars down to the pavillion located
just to the east of the parking lot to unload,
and then park in the lot.

May 14, 2011

It's Summertime

At the general meeting on Friday, June 10th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place,
MAS members Chris Zeltner and Martin Mika will lead a discussion on
Favorite Summer Observing Targets. Come and talk about your own list.

The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

We will also talk about the Swap Meet/Picnic/Open House
to be held 8 days later at YRS.

And about the
DGRO roll-off building, LX-200 telescope, and moving-expense donations
we are being offered. The board has agreed to accept these items and will
bring up the matter of acceptance and allocation of additional funds for the membership to discuss.

The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

This is the annual meeting of MAS and the
election of board members.
Proposed board members are:

President - John Rummel

Vice President - Chris Zeltner

Secretary - Dave Odell

Treasurer - Dan Strome

Observatory Director - Les Phelps

At-Large Board Member - Neil Robinson

At-Large Board Member - Martin Mika

February 9, 2011

Climate Change

At the MAS general meeting on Friday, March 11th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place,
Susan Nossal
will give a talk on
atmospheric climate change.

The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

Susan Nossal is a scientist and director at the Physics Learning Center of the UW Madison.

Her research applies optical spectroscopy to studies of the Earth's upper atmosphere.
In particular, she has been using a long term data set to study the effects of
natural variability on this region. Understanding natural variability is needed
to isolate any effects of long term change.

January 23, 2011

The DGRO

The MAS general meeting on Friday, February 11th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place,
will feature several talks about
Astronomy Programs at the Greiner Research Observatory.

The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

First, Doc Greiner will discuss the observatory building,
its development and its current status.

Matt Mills will describe some of the work being done.
Then there should be time for a few questions about asteroid searches.

Greg Sellek and Mark Hanson will try making contact with the observatory.
They will at least visit the building and show some of the interior facilities.
If the skies are good, some stars can be shown as well.

Mark will give a tour of his excellent imaging results, with some
recent first-light results from the Ritchey-Chrétien telescope.

December 5, 2010

Total Lunar Eclipse

The full Moon will start moving into Earth's shadow
around midnight on December 20-21, 2010.

The Moon moves eastward roughly its own diameter
every hour, and the umbra of Earth's shadow may be
about three Moon diameters wide.
The path will be a bit off-center, and totality
will last 72 minutes.

At the MAS general meeting on December 10th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place,
we will talk about
Observing Techniques:
an observer's survey of some basic tools: star charts,
atlases, reference works and computer software.

We'll explore some of the more common
sky references
and share how these tools
can assist in planning and carrying out an evening of observing.

There will be laptops and several
software programs,
including Stellarium and Starry Night,
along with Tirion star charts, the three volume set of
Burnham's Celestial Handbook, and
other
favorite
tools.
It should evolve into a fun discussion.

The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

And mark your calendars now for our January meeting (January 14),
when we will meet once again in the MMSD Planetarium at Memorial High school.
Program information will follow, but don't miss this special meeting.

February 14, 2009

Google Calendar

Space Place
is sharing its Google calendar with MAS.
The calendar is called
Dane_Co_Astro.

Click through the months and on individual days
to see what's going on.

MAS meeting events include a link to this News page.

September 22, 2010

Dobsonian Telescopes

At the November 12th MAS general meeting, 7:00 at UW Space Place,
Dave Kriege,
owner and president of
Obsession Telescopes
of Lake Mills, WI will talk about his telescopes
and how he came to be the creator of one of
the premier telescope companies of the last 10 years.

The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

September 22, 2010

Preparation for Observing

The October 8th MAS general meeting, 7:00 at UW Space Place,
will be a discussion on
planning an observing session.

The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

Bring your favorite accessory box and star charts
and be ready for a panel or round robin on
preparing for and conducting an observing session.
It could be a combination of show-and-tell with accessories
and actual discussion of how you plan what you're going
to observe and how you select proper eye pieces, etc.

August 23, 2010

Astrophotography

At the September 10th MAS general meeting, 7:00 at UW Space Place,
John Rummel
will talk about:

Astrophotography: Sometimes more art than science.

The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

July 16, 2010

Dark Energy

The August 13th MAS general meeting, 7:00 at UW Space Place,
will feature:

This meeting will mark our return to the 7:00 start time, with the
7:00 - 7:30 period being loosely described as a "visitor/new member welcome" time.
The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

July 21, 2010

Perseid Meteor Star Party at Donald Park

The meteor watching event is a go for tonight (Thursday) at 8:00 pm.

The MAS and the
Friends of Donald Park
invite you to
observe the Perseids
in this scenic Dane County Park on August 12 (Thursday), 8:00 pm.

Bring chairs, blankets, bug spray and a thermos of your favorite cool beverage.
Plan to stay into the wee hours of Friday morning. The Perseids this year
correspond to a very young moon so we will enjoy dark skies at the peak shower hours after midnight.

In the event of clouds/rain for August 12, we will reschedule for
Friday, August 13, immediately following the MAS meeting at Space Place.

Donald Park is about 17 miles from Madison.
The park entrance is on the south side of Highway 92,
southeast of Mt. Horeb or northwest of County G.
Google Map (zoom in for more detail).

You won't want to miss this.

July 18, 2010

Star Party at Donald Park

Madison Astronomical Society and the Friends of Donald Park
hosted an observing event at this new Dane County park on Sunday July 18th.

History from early days to the present, with many
wonderful historic photographs.

June 18, 2010

Meteorites

At the July 9th MAS general meeting, 7:30 at UW Space Place,
society member Matt Mills will present a talk:

Madison Astronomical Society Expedition to Recover Meteorite Fragments
from the April 2010 Fall in SW Wisconsin.

Please come to the meeting and add your own meteorite-hunting stories.

April 21, 2010

Radio Astronomy

The May 14th MAS general meeting, 7:30 at UW Space Place,
will feature UW Astronomy professor
Dr. Snezana Stanimarovic.
Her presentation will be about using the largest radio
telescope in the world to study our Galaxy.

We will also discuss the MAS officer elections that
will occur at the June 12th picnic, and we will produce
a list of who will run for the various positions.

March 29, 2010

How-to

The Shop Talk at the April 9th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place,
will center around
eyepiece astronomy.

There has been a lot of discussion about creating documents MAS
can make available to new and current members for equipment and
observing recommendations and How-Tos, at both the novice and
more advanced observing member levels.

So bring your ideas about
the types of document and their content to the April meeting.

Hope to see you Friday the 9th.

Don Martin
President, Madison Astronomical Society

February 23, 2010

Neutrinos

UW graduate student Jon Dumm
will be our guest speaker at the March 12th general meeting
of the Madison Astronomical Society, 7:30 pm at Space Place.

The evening starts at 7:00 PM with a short informal
gathering, followed by a presentation on
the 400th anniversary of Galileo's observations of Jupiter.

On January 7 1610 Galileo observed with his telescope
what he described at the time as "three fixed stars,
totally invisible by their smallness," all close to
Jupiter, and lying on a straight line through it.

With this observation, Galileo helped to complete the
revolution started by Copernicus. Join the MAS on this
special evening in celebration of the 400th year of Galileo's
observations of Jupiter. Using the planetarium's simulation
capabilities, we will recreate the sky as seen by Galileo
over Padua that night. Memorial astronomy teacher Art Camosy
will present a program highlighting the significance of this
event in history, science and art.

November 21, 2009

Holiday Party

The December 11 MAS meeting will be our
Annual Holiday Party at Space Place.
An informal get-together starts at 7:00 pm, followed by
a short business meeting at 7:30.

Plan to bring a dish to pass around and your own drinks,
and if you have any piece of astronomy related equipment
you'd like to ask anything about, bring that along and
the knowledgable crew on hand that night will certainly
be willing to help as much as they can.

October 1, 2009

Discussion

The topic at the November 13th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place,
will be
Shop Talk.

Details TBA.

September 17, 2009

Johannes Kepler

At the October 9th general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place,
Jim Lattis
will speak to MAS on
Johannes Kepler: A mysterium historigraphicum.

Since 2009 is the 400th anniversary of Kepler's work on the
orbit of Mars,
it is appropriate to hear about his work as well as that of Galileo.

August 8, 2009

Doc Greiner's New Observatory

At the September 11th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place,
Doc Greiner will give a slide show about his new facility.

The title is
The Doc Greiner Research Observatories.

August 8, 2009

August Meeting and Discussion

There will not be a speaker at the August 14th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place,

The August General meeting topic is
Shop Talk
and is an opportunity for MAS members and guests
to share information and advise on astronomy related topics.

July 1, 2009

July Meeting and Elections

At the July 10th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place,
there will not be a speaker.

Since we did not have a quorum at the picnic in June,
elections were postponed until July.

Please try to attend this meeting, so that we can
elect officers.

March 1, 2009

Star Clusters

At the May 8th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place,
we will have a presentation by
Dr. Peter Frinchaboy III,
Ph.D., NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow, titled
Star Clusters: 'Simple?' Stellar Populations.

In this talk, I will discuss the key role star clusters play in astronomy,
from understanding how stars evolve, to gravitational dynamics, and even
the calibration of cosmological distance.
I will also discuss current complications being found from new detailed
studies of these key objects.

January 28, 2009

MAS Young Astronomers Telescope Scholarship

Need a telescope but can't afford to buy one?
Interested in learning more about using a telescope but don't have one?

The Madison Astronomical Society awards "scholarship"
telescopes to deserving young people every year.
These are loaner telescopes that the recipients may
keep for one year, and they come with the expertise
of a local astronomy club behind them.

The deadline for applications is
April 15, 2009, so get yours in soon!

January 11, 2009

Galileo in History

The April 10th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place,
will feature a special presentation by
Professor Michael Shank
titled
Setting the Stage: Galileo in Tuscany, the Veneto, and Rome

Professor Shank is with History of Science
and Integrated Liberal Studies at the UW-Madison.

January 21, 2009

MAS Spring Banquet

The MAS Spring Banquet will be held this year at Space Place on
Friday, March 13.
Social hour will start at 6:00 pm and dinner at 7:00.

After dinner,
Dr. Robert Benjamin
will be giving a presentation titled
Mapping the Milky Way.

MAS members should have received a recent email
with the reservation form attached.

January 20, 2009

Astronomical Seeing

The February 13th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place,
will have a presentation by
MAS President Don Martin
titled
Seeing and Transparency.

December 31, 2008

Telescopes at U.S. Bank Eve

On New Year's Eve MAS will begin the
International Year of Astronomy
by bringing telescopes to Olbrich Gardens, Monona Terrace,
the Historical Society Museum on State St., and Space Place
for public viewing from 6 to 9 pm.

The MAS meeting on Friday November 14 will be held at the
MMSD Planetarium at Madison Memorial High School,
201 S Gammon Road.

The evening starts at 7:00 PM with a short informal
gathering, followed at 7:30 by
John Rummel's presentation
on the MMSD Planetarium's Overhead Projector
(with apologies to John McCain). A demonstration of the
planetarium's all-sky projection capabilities, a short sky tour,
and your questions answered.

September 19, 2008

MAS on the Radio

The
WORT Radio Access Hour
will feature MAS members
Chris Zeltner, Jim Lattis, Wynn Wacker, and Don Martin
in an open discussion and call-in program on
Monday, October 6 at 7:00 pm.

Discussion topics may be available later.
Be sure to listen.

September 10, 2008

Via Lactea

At the September 12 meeting,
John Rummel and Mark Weller
will present a talk on
Photographing the Milky Way.

August 12, 2008

What About YRS?

At the August 8 meeting, new MAS President
Don Martin
began a discussion on
the future of YRS
and on ways to increase member interest in activities.

April 29, 2008

Planet Missions

The speaker for the May 9 meeting will be
Sanjay Limaye,
from the UW Space Science and Engineering Center.

Sanjay will give us
An Update on Current Planet Missions.

March 7, 2008

The End of the Astrolabe

At the Friday March 14 MAS general meeting at Space Place,
Jim Lattis, UW Space Place Director,
will talk about
Christoph Clavius and the End of the Astrolabe.

The astrolabe was one of the most important tools of the
astronomer from antiquity through the Early Modern era, but by 1600 was
well on the way to obsolescence. By examining Clavius's astrolabe book,
published first in 1593 and again in 1611, we can begin to see why
astronomers were abandoning their venerable instrument--and the
invention of the telescope had nothing to do with it.

February 9, 2008

Lunar Eclipse Events

February 20 lunar eclipse
events at Space Place, Memorial High School Planetarium, and Sterling Hall.

Memorial Planetarium:
Planetarium presentations at 6:30 and 7:45 (one hour)
on the moon and lunar eclipses. Admission $2 per person
for the indoor planetarium presentations. Outdoors
(weather permitting), telescopic viewing of the eclipse.
If weather prohibits the use of telescopes outside,
the planetarium presentations will go on as scheduled.
Contact John Rummel at
darksky25@charter.net
for information.

UW Astronomy Department:
Astronomy graduate students will have a public viewing
at the telescope at Sterling Hall, starting at 7:30 pm.
Visit
http://spaceplace.wisc.edu/
for information.

MAS members are invited and encouraged to attend
both the Space Place and the Memorial High School
Planetarium events. Bring your telescopes
to set up and show the public a good astronomical time.

February 7, 2008

SALT

At the Friday February 8 MAS general meeting at Space Place, Dr. Andrew Sheinis,
UW Astronomy Dept, will discuss the
Southern African Large Telescope.

SALT is the worlds largest optical telescope,
with an aperture of 11 meters in diameter. The UW
Madison Astronomy Department is a major member of the
SALT consortium, with approximately 17% ownership.

In this talk I will describe the design and the
status of this novel telescope, and talk about the
astronomical goals we at UW have for it.

January 5, 2008

Dark-Sky Communities

At the Friday January 11 MAS general meeting at Space Place, David Oesper
will discuss towns built around astronomy.

Many observational astronomers and stargazers dream of someday
living in a community with little or no outdoor lighting, and
it is certainly possible to make such a community work,
provided it is not too large.

In fact, two such communities
already exist, and they have filled up rapidly:
Deerlick Astronomy Village in Central Georgia,
and the
Arizona Sky Village in SE Arizona.
But these communities cater to the wealthy.

Is it possible to create affordable, sustainable dark-sky
communities for those of more modest means? Yes!
David Oesper will present his vision of dark-sky communities
where any of us could live and work.

July 22, 2007

Lunar Musings

At the Friday August 10 MAS general meeting at Space Place
John Rummel's
talk will be

The Moon and the Capitol: My 21st Century Stonehenge.

Philip Jackson will speak at a later date.

July 3, 2007

Observing

The Friday July 13 MAS general meeting at Space Place
will be a discussion of
our recent observing experiences.

Jane Breun wants to share with you her Jupiter observations.
Please come with your own observations to share.

John Rummel's talk is postponed.

May 7, 2007

Outside the Visible

At the Friday May 11 MAS general meeting at Space Place,
Chuck Forster
will discuss
Radio Astronomy.

This talk is rescheduled from November's snowed-out meeting.

April 11, 2007

Dwarf Planets

The Friday April 13 MAS general meeting at Space Place will feature
Jane Breun
on What IS a "dwarf planet?": A brief overview of Solar System Nomenclature.

March 2, 2007

Show and Share

The Friday March 9 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place will present
Equipment Expo,
where members will bring in their
favorite astronomy equipment.
(telescopes, mounts, accessories, imaging devices, etc.)
for members and guests to see, learn about, and explore.

January 26, 2007

Missions to Venus

At the Friday February 9 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place, Sanjay Limaye,
of the UW Space Sciences and Engineering Center,
will present Back to Venus: Venus Express and other new missions to Venus.

November 3, 2006

Radio Astronomy

At the Friday November 10 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place,
Chuck Forster
will speak about
radio astronomy.

August 21, 2006

Star Party at YRS

The star party for MAS members at YRS, originally planned for
Saturday August 19, was
clouded out
and is
rescheduled for Saturday August 26,
from sunset to whenever.

As of noon on Saturday August 26, the weather is not promising. It is likely that the
star party will have to be rescheduled yet again for a later date.

July 30, 2006

What Have You Observed Lately ?

At the Friday August 11 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place,
Wynn Wacker
will moderate a discussion of our
recent observations.

Did anyone watch the encounter between the Great Red Spot and Red Spot Jr during July?
How about the meteor shower July 28 -- anyone see meteors hitting the moon?
Or -- whatever else you may have observed in the past few months.

June 30, 2006

Astronomy in New Mexico ?

At the Friday July 14 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place,
John Rummel
will present a short program entitled
Doing Everything but Astronomy in New Mexico,
about his recent trip to New Mexico Skies with Jeff Shokler.

As the title indicates, they did not enjoy favorable weather,
but they did get some bird pictures and played lots of cards.

May 24, 2006

Dobsonian Telescope for Sale

George Urban of Kenosha has a
Discovery DHQ 10 inch Dobsonian
for sale.

At the Friday May 12 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place,
Jane Breun
will present Eclipsed in Turkey: the March 29, 2006 total solar eclipse.

My husband and I, along with 15 other eclipse viewers, spent eight days
on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Turkey,
in order to view the March 29th eclipse.

The third contact diamond ring was the best I've seen
(This was my fifth eclipse trip.), and there were several
prominences visible, even though we are near sunspot minimum.
The 360 degree twilight was very prominent for the four minutes of totality.
All together a very successful trip!

April 10, 2006

Ancient Climate

At the Friday April 14 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place
Prof. John Valley,
will talk about A Cool Early Earth?

February 14, 2006

Annual MAS Banquet

The annual MAS banquet will be held
Friday, March 10 at CJ's East.
Social hour starts at 6 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7 p.m.
The banquet replaces the meeting for the month of March.

The speaker will be from the UW Astronomy Department, on
SALT - the Southern African Large Telescope.

February 4, 2006

Superstring Cosmology

At the Friday February 10 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place
the speaker will be
Dr. Gary Shiu,
of the UW Madison Physics Department,
on Superstring Cosmology.

He will discuss how ideas from string theory can impact the way
we think about the early universe and vice versa.

Bring your D-brane.

January 12, 2006

Near Galactic Neighbor ?

A huge but very faint structure, containing hundreds of thousands
of stars spread over an area nearly 5,000 times the size of a full moon,
has been discovered and mapped by astronomers of the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II).

At an estimated distance of 30,000 light years (10 kiloparsecs) from Earth,
the structure lies well within the confines of the Milky Way Galaxy.

...the most likely interpretation of the new structure is a dwarf galaxy
that is merging into the Milky Way.

The new dwarf galaxy is found toward the constellation Virgo.

December 19, 2005

Mars in Review

At the Friday January 13 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place
the speaker / moderator will be
Jane Breun, on Mars in Review.

Even though Mars did not have quite as large an angular extent as
in 2003, its position so much higher in the sky made for a great
observing season. Let's share our images, observing stories and
general impressions at the next MAS meeting.

If you have observations to share, please let me know ahead of time,
so I have some idea of how the program will go.

The UW Memorial Union Distinguished Lecture Series will present physicist
Brian Greene on Tuesday, December 13,
at 7:30 pm in the Memorial Union Theatre (call 262-2201 for tickets).

Brian Greene is one of the world's leading theoretical physicists.
His latest book, The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality,
spent 25 weeks on The New York Times bestsellers list and inspired The Washington Post
to describe him as "the single best explainer of abstruse concepts in the world today."
An expert in string theory, Greene introduces the audience to a concept that might be
the key to a unified theory of the universe.

November 10, 2005

Spitzer Survey of Infrared Stars

At the Friday November 11 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place
the speaker will be Professor Ed Churchwell,
of the UW Madison Astronomy Department,
on New Results from GLIMPSE Survey.

GLIMPSE (Galactic Legacy Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire) is a survey
of infrared stars made with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Professor Churchwell
spoke last year about plans for the survey. Now he has more results to share with us.

Note that the Friday July 8 general meeting will be held at YRS, starting at 7:30,
with observing afterward. Space Place is still under construction.

June 11, 2005

Space Place Move

Jim Lattis has asked MAS members for help in moving equipment
to the new Space Place.

Meet at the old Space Place on
Saturday, June 25, at 1:00 pm.

May 11, 2005

Total Solar Eclipse

At the May 13 MAS general meeting
Jane Breun
will discuss the
South Pacific total solar eclipse of April 8, 2005.

"On board the M/V Discovery, we only had 33 seconds of totality,
but it was spectacular! Because the moon's apparent size
matched the sun's apparent size so closely, the sun's chromosphere
was visible during the entire eclipse. My husband, Bob,
took his best eclipse pictures yet with his new Lumix digital camera with 12x Zoom."

April 9, 2005

Star Party at YRS

There will be a star party for MAS members at YRS on
Saturday May 7,
from sunset to whenever.

This is the Saturday before the general meeting on May 13.

April 2, 2005

Young Astronomers' Club

The speaker at the April 8 MAS general meeting is
Jim Kotoski.

He will be discussing his concept for a
Young Astronomers' Club
for next fall and will then be asking for ideas from us.

The speaker at the February 11 MAS general meeting is
Sanjay Limaye,
senior scientist at Space Science and Engineering Center, UW Madison.

Spirit and Opportunity on Mars: Still Going.....

The two Mars rovers have now spent more than a year on Mars,
far longer than originally planned or anticipated. The long survival
on Mars has allowed them to explore a far greater vista and accumulate
strong evidence of past liquid water on the surface of Mars through the
discovery of minerals. The more they explore, the more are the questions
about the past history of water on Mars.

At the same time, the European Mars Express orbiter has been observing the
surface from a suite of instruments which have led to some interesting findings,
e.g the discovery of atmospheric methane. The radar on Mars Express, which is
expected to shed some light on sub-surface water has not yet been utilized, but
it is hoped that in the near future it too will obtain some data.

The Mars findings are sure to influence the future missions and is already
underway for the next missions.

On Saturday November 1st 2003 at 2:00pm the MAS will
be conducting an Astronomy Merit Badge Clinic
at the University of Wisconsin Space Place.
For more information visit the
webpage for this event.

Boy Scouts and members should periodically check this website for updates.

MAS members interested in participating in this event, please
email AJ Carver.
Members are needed to bring their telescopes for the observing session
and to assist in the classroom portion of the event.

October 8, 2003

Moon Over Monona Terrace

MAS conducted the annual
Moon Over Monona Terrace public star party
on the roof of Madison's Monona Terrace Convention Center
from 7:30 until 9:30 pm on Saturday, October 4th
(postponed from Friday October 3rd because of clouds).

Many hundreds of people enjoyed looking at the Moon and Mars through telescopes
and talking with MAS members. Two video hookups displayed images on TV monitors.

July 3, 2003

Image by Mark Hanson in Astronomy Magazine

MAS member Mark Hanson's image of the
Witch Head nebula
is given a full page in Astronomy's gallery, the very last page of the magazine.

Elise will be a senior at Madison West High School this year.
Until next May, she will have use of an 8-inch Dobsonian telescope,
several eyepieces, and star charts.

In her application for the scholarship, she recalled a memorable experience
from the Leonid meteor shower of last year:

"I decided to wake up early to observe the peak hours. I set my alarm for 3 am,
but woke at 2:30. I couldn't fall back asleep, so I went to watch TV. They were
talking about the shower on one of the networks, so I grabbed three blankets,
some slippers and a pair of socks and went out to my back deck. I lay on my back
on the frosted picnic table to look at the sky. Fortunately, my house blocked out
a good amount of moonlight, and my neighborhood is relatively dark. I counted some
300 meteors before I finally came in around 5 am, numb to the bone and ready for
coffee, but still excited."

A picture of
Jim Kotoski,
Science Teacher at Spring Harbor Middle School in Madison and recent winner of the
Outreach and Education Award,
is now online.

March 14, 2003

Comet Observations by Matt Mills

At the Yanna Research Station MAS Secretary and avid
observer Matt Mills used a Doc. Greiner 12" LX200 and
the ST-7 ccd camera (on loan from Doc. Greiner) to
estimate the magnitude of comet 2002 T7. Matt's
observation was of such quality that it has been
posted on the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Comet Observation home page: http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/RecentObs.html#02T7

Matt has also written an article describing his convenient tripod dolly that has been posted on
http://www.cloudynights.com/,
a website dedicated to review of astronomical equipment.

Congratulations Matt!

February 6, 2003

A Second Image by Mark Hanson Voted Best

An image of M44 by MAS member and astrophotographer
Mark Hanson has been recognized as
"Best of January 2003" by Digital_Astro. His image of
Jupiter was runner-up against other Jupiter images.
Congratulations Mark!

And an image of M31 by Mark was recently recognized as
"Best of December 2002" by Digital_Astro.

Against strong competition the nearly 3000 members of
Digital_Astro voted for Mark's images to receive the honor.

MAS conducted the annual
Moon Over Monona public star party
on the roof of Madison's Monona Terrace Convention Center
from dusk until 10:00 pm on Friday October 11th.

Members brought about 25 telescopes and binoculars, as well as a telescope
equipped with a video camera and displaying an image of the Moon on a TV.
Several hundred people enjoyed talking with members and viewing the Moon,
the Andromeda Galaxy, and other celestial objects.

The extraordinary beauty of the stars in an unpolluted sky belongs to
everyone, but it's washed out in wasted light over communities worldwide.
The Wisconsin Dark Sky forum is where advocates in the growing movement
to stop light pollution in Wisconsin can exchange ideas and information.
It's open to anyone interested in outdoor lighting designed and regulated
to improve visibility, save energy, enhance the nighttime environment and
preserve our precious night sky. To join, just point your web browser to: